Exterminator Class
by Brian01
Summary: An Inquisitor banished, a mysterious object, an ancient secret project. And just what the frak is that?
1. What the frak is that?

****As is standard, I do not own Warhammer 40,000. I do own all original ideas or characters. Please enjoy this story which will hopefully not be a stagnating one shot. My other stories will, eventually be updated, but probably not for a while. I wrote this as an entry to the Fanfiction competition in Phenomicon but I think it's been long enough that I can post it here. Enjoy! And for the love of the Emperor, Review! Thought for the day: Death brings its own reward.****

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****+LOCATION: ******_**UNKNOWN**_******+  
********+DATE: ******_**UNKNOWN**_******+  
********+TIME ELAPSED SINCE LAST SIGHTING OF FRIENDLY FORCES: ******_**500 STANDARD YEARS**_******+  
********+STATUS OF CARGO: ******_**UNKNOWN**_******+  
********+DISTRESS BEACON: ******_**INACTIVE+  
**_**…  
****+DISTRESS BEACON: ******_**ACTIVATED+**_**

-System Omega Alpha, Ghoul Stars, Periphery-

-**93499.M41-**

Inquisitor Ivan Strum was pacing the bridge of the Endurance class light cruiser, the__DEFIANT SOUL___. _How dare those incompetent, stuck up fools send him to the _Ghoul Stars_, of all places. They were obviously hiding something! And he was perfectly within his rights as an Imperial Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus to search their chambers!

Oh, he knew what this was about. It all came back to that one rebellion he crushed, way back...when was that again? Was it really only in 933500.M41. So it was. Who'd have thought time could pass so quickly? Still, he knew that the High Lords of Terra were trying to kill him! And all because he used a couple o' nukes on a few pesky rebels! They said it was overkill, but it worked, didn't it?

****+ELECTRO MAGNETIC ANOMALLY DETECTED IDENTIFIED: ******_**Crusier**_******+  
+CLASS: ******_**UNKNOWN**_******+  
+IDENTIFCATION: ******_**UNKNOWN**_******+  
+UNIDENTIFIED SHIP: ******_**HAILED+**_**

"M'lord, we're being hailed!"

"Who is it ensign?"

"Unknown sir!"

****+RESPONSE?+  
+******_**NEGATIVE**_******+  
+COURSE OF ACTION?+  
********...  
********...  
********+EXTERMINATE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE+****

"Sir! Scanners are picking up an unidentified object, wait! It's a ship sir! Imperial Design, Exterminator Class Experimental Dreadnought?"

"Sire! It's charging weapons!"

It was at this point that the exclamations of the bridge crew of the __DEFIANT SOUL __sunk in. Strum whirled around and stormed back on to the bridge.

"What did you say?" he asked dangerously.

"I said, m'lord, that the sensors have picked up an Exterminator Class Experimental Dreadnought at extreme range and that it is charging weapons, m'lord!"

****+WEAPONS: ******_**CHARGED**_******+  
+SHIP DESIGN: ******_**IMPERIAL**_******+  
+COURSE OF ACTION: ******_**RECALCULATING+  
**_****…  
******+NEW COURSE OF ACTION: ******_**DISABLE**_******+  
********+TARGET+  
******_**+ENGINES**_******+  
******_**+WEAPONS**_******+  
********+FIRE+****

"M'lord! They're firing!"

At this point, the entire bridge crew turned to stare out the view finder. Although the ship was In deep space, far from the star around which the system orbited, there was no shortage of things to look at. As Strum gazed out at the vast expanse of twinkling stars, he glimpsed a shadow glide in front of the star around which they were orbiting.

"Focus on co-ordinates 37' 42' 59'!"

"Right away, m'lord."

As the entire view screen zoomed on the sector, a dark shadow could be seen, encompassing the area.

"Zoom out a bit, will you?"

The optical specialists rushed to do just that. However, even after zooming out until the sector was approximately the size of the old Terran artefact know as a Rubik cube, the shadow extended beyond the edges of their point of view.

"By the Emperor! How big is this thing?"

"Sensors are reading..."

"Well, spit it out man! Don't just sit their!"

"M'lord, the sensors are registering the ship as two million kilometres long, two thousand five hundred kilometres wide and five thousand kilometres high."

At this point the ship shook as it took half a dozen neutron torpedoes to the flank.

"Sir, shields are at eighty percent! And dropping!"

An expression of pure, unadulterated shock dawned on Strums face as he realised exactly what it was that they were facing. The Exterminator Class Dreadnought was a ship designed and commissioned by the high lords of Terra in the aftermath of the twelfth Black Crusade when the high lords decided that there was a need for a new class of ship, one that could, on it's own, hold off a Chaos fleet indefinitely. In order to insure the ship would be able to do so, an Artificial Intelligence was secretly commissioned specifically for the ship, with thousands of fail-safes and redundancies. Each of these systems was warded by the Grey Knights and tested by a hundred psyches. The ship was then built, the systems installed, and the ship taken for it's maiden voyage.

Unfortunately, the ship disappeared moments after entering the Warp. The ship was deemed a failure and all research into new ships was suspended. The simple fact that this ship had re-emerged here, of all places, bore terrible potents of death and destruction.

****+RESPONSE TO HAILS?+  
+******_**NEGATIVE**_******+  
+CONCLUSION?+  
+SHIP CREW: ******_**ORGANIC+**_****  
****_**+REPEAT HAILS**_******+  
+LANGUAGE?+  
+******_**LOW GOTHIC: 10 STANDARD MINUTE RESPONSE TIME+**_**

"Sir! It's hailing us again! Audio this time, not binary."

"__IMPERIAL SHIP-CONFIRM___"_

Strum rushed over to the comms station, staring at the log. It couldn't be trying to communicate, could it? The design specifications he had read, what little had survived, stated that the AI had been a simple, rudimentary system incapable of conscious thought or reasoning.

"This is Inquisitor Ivan Strum, Ordo Hereticus. Surrender immediately and you will not be harmed. Failure to comply will result in the use of deadly force."

****+REPLY RECEIVED+  
+HIGHEST POWER ON SHIP: ******_**INQUISITOR, ORDO HERETICUS**_******+  
+IVAN STURM: ******_**NOT IDENTIFIED**_******+  
+******_**REQUEST CONFERMATION+**_**

"__PROVIDE CONFERMATION: CODE LIMA FOXTRO___T"_

"Response: Talon Alpha"

****+CONFERMATION RECEIVED+  
+INQUSITION PRESENCE: ******_**CONFERMED+**_**

"What is the status of your crew Captain?"

****+CREW STATUS: ******_**EXECUTED**_******+  
+CAUSE: ******_**HERESY, MUTATION**_******+  
+COMAND TRANSFERED TO: ******_**INQUISTOER IVAN STRUM+**_**

"__CREW EXECUTED. CAUSE HERESY, MUTATION. CAPTAIN EXECUTED. CAUSE HERESY, MUTATION. COMMAND TRANSFERED TO INQUISTOR STRUM. COME ABOARD CAPTAIN, DOCKING BAY 5___"_

At this point, the entire bridge crew was shocked and confused. Strum was especially confused. An AI commanding a ship, unthinkable! Yet here was a ship that was commanded by an AI. 'Well not at the moment, thankfully.' was all Strum could think.

"Captain, dock with the ship at the designated bay. We're going aboard!"

****+CAPTAIN BOARDING SHIP+  
+COURSE OF ACTION?+  
+GUIDE TO: ******_**CARGO BAY ALPHA**_******+  
+CONTENTS STRATIGIC VALUE: ******_**ABSOLUTE+**_**

As Strum stepped onto the deck of the Exterminator, he had a sense of impending doom. Although it would probably be best described as a sense of anticipation.

_"___CAPTAIN. PROCEED IMMEDIATELY TO CARGO BAY ALPHA"__

As soon as the AI finished speaking, a path of lights lit up, which Strum and the boarding party followed. After a few minutes of walking they arrived at a heavily reinforced bulkhead with a layer of frost on it and the surrounding area.

****+CAPTAIN AT: ******_**CARGO VAULT ALPHA**_******+  
+OPENING DOORS+****

_"___OPENING BAY DOORS. CARGO WITHIN THIS VAULT IS OF ABSOLUTE STRATIGIC VALUE..."__

Strum had stopped listening at this point in favour of gaping as a layer of fog flowed out of the room.

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****So that's that, hope you enjoyed and please leave me a review telling me what you think! Some bits are missing, mostly for the bold text, which, if you didn't figure it out, is the AI's internal monologue, inspired by the starting sequence of the Space Hulk video game. Hope you enjoyed it.****


	2. ORKS!

_**Not going to rehash my disclaimer, see chapter 1. Enjoy the new chapter. And for Emperor's sake, REVEIW!**_

_**Thought for the day: Damnation is Eternal**_

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**-System Omega Alpha, Ghoul Stars, Periphery-  
**-**93499.M41-**

"__CAPTAIN, PROCEED TO BRIDGE IMMEDIATELY___"_

At this Ivan Strum, Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, started. He had been completely enthralled by the sight before him. Such a glorious, magnificent sight such that he had not seen in all his hundreds of years of life. Despite his travels to the far reaches of the galaxy, all of his conquests, he had never seen anything quite so incredible.

But alas, they couldn't stay staring at this one cargo bay's incredible contents all day. Who knew what other secrets this brilliant ship held. And they were all his! Or rather the Imperium's. Strum turned from the vista in front of him and turned to seek out the bridge, how hard could it be to find the bridge after all?

As he and his entourage strode confidently through the ship in search of the bridge, Strum wondered, just how anyone could lose a ship such as this, even in the Warp.

"Ship?"

"__YES CAPTAIN___"_

"Just how __were __you lost in the warp?"

****+INFORMATION REQUESTED+  
+CLEARANCE LEVEL ****__**OMEGA ULTRA **__****REQUIRED+  
******…****  
+CLEARANCE LEVEL: ****_INQUISITION_+  
+ACCESS: **__**GRANTED+**__

"__CAPTAIN CLEARANCE LEVEL...___**SUFFICIENT**"_

"__SHIP ENTERED WARP AS PER FIELD TEST PARAMETERS. CAPTAIN __**_**NAME PURGED **_**__REVEALED AS TRAITOR FOR DARK GODS. EXPERIMENTAL __**_**CLASSIFIED **_**__ACTIVATED.___"_

"Ship, what was activated?"

****+INFORMATION ON ****__**PROJECT BLITZ **__****REQUESTED+  
+CLEARANCE LEVEL ****__**INQUISITION ULTRA **__****REQUIRED+  
******…****  
+CLEARANCE LEVEL: ****_INSUFFICIENT_+  
+**_**ACCESS **___**DENIED**__+

"__CAPTAIN CLEARANCE LEVEL...**INSUFFICIENT**. ACCESS __**_DENIED_**_."_

"What level of clearance do I need to access those files then?"

"__CLEARANCE LEVEL ____**INQUISITION ULTRA **____REQUIRED.___"_

Strum swore. Inquisition Ultra Clearance was only given to Lord Inquisitors and Space Marine Chapter Masters. It was the second highest clearance level in the Imperium of Man. Only the High Lords of Terra and the Emperor himself had higher clearance levels. He wasn't going to be getting into those files any time soon.

"Fine."

For the next few hours, only the echoing sound of a dozen booted feet marching in formation on metal plating could be heard. Strum had finally had enough.

"There must be a better way to get around a ship this size than walking everywhere!"

****+TRANSIT INFORMATION: ****__**REQUESTED**__****+  
+TRANSIT SYSTEM: ****__**IN **__****_LOCK DOWN_+  
+CAUSE: ****__**XENOS INFESTATION**__****+  
+CLASSIFICATION: ****__**ORK/GREENSKIN**__****+  
+COURSE OF ACTION: ****__**INFORM CAPTAIN+**__

_"___TRANSIT SYSTEM: __**_IN LOCK DOWN _**__DUE TO __**_XENOS INFESTATION_**__. XENOS DESIGNATION: __**_ORK/GREENSKIN_**__"__

"Well we can't have that, now can we? Soldier, radio the __DEFIANT SOUL __and tell then we need a battalion of men armed for dealing with Orks ASAP!"

"Yes, sir!"

Strum realized that the Orks had probably had years to multiply and arm themselves. They were probably armed to the teef' as the Orks would say and piled on top of each other in a never ending brawl.

"Ship, where are these Orks?"

"_XENOS THREAT___ CONFINED TO LEVELS 59 TO 62. THESE LEVELS ARE TWO LEVELS BELOW YOUR CURRENT POSSITION. INTERIOR DEFENSE TURRETS WILL ACTIVATE UPON YOUR ENTRY TO THESE LEVELS. **SUFFER NOT THE XENOS TO LIVE**.___"_

"You hear that, men two levels! Find the stairs and activate the trans-location beacon. Then, after we've rendezvoused with the reinforcements, we'll fight our way through those levels, cleansing then of Xenos filth!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The squad advanced towards the stairways, mindful of any greenskins that had managed to escape containment. They reached the stairs before descending to level 62 where they met up with their reinforcements.

"All right men. We know that there's Orks just past this bulkhead, and we'll be going in hot. Upon the opening of this door, we will clear the immediate area with three volleys in a crescent formation. You will proceed to enter the room, finding cover before firing at will. Defence turrets will deal with most of the Orks, our job is to advance through this Level cleansing it with fire. On three!"

As Strum began the countdown, he looked of his force of guardsmen and storm troopers and thought 'We're all going to die,'

"One!"

At that the charges on the bulkhead went off, turning the door to shrapnel and sending it inwards to shred any greenskins on the other side. This was immediately followed by the sharp retorts of twenty-five tactical-class ship-board auto-guns.

This was followed by a volley of grenades and two dozen plasma bolts before the men charged into the smoke. Sturm followed almost immediately after.

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****Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it's so short. Please review!****


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